Louis Van Gaal admitted Manchester United need more signings and revealed the team’s confidence was shattered by defeat in their opening game of the season against Swansea.

The Dutchman’s first Premier League game ended in a 2-1 defeat, with United showing all the familiar issues that had emerged last season, while a lack of signings and injuries forced Van Gaal’s hand into deploying players out of position, resulting in a lacklustre performance and a horrible start to the season.

A Salford teenager named after Manchester United legend, Eric Cantona, has been charged with armed robbery.

Adam Eric Cantona Doyle, 18, from Salford is due before Wigan Magistrates next week and will be joined by three others charged with the robbery of a Wigan Co-op.

Were you named after a United player or know anyone who was? I know I was. It’s not unusual to have a first name or middle name thanks to your Dad’s favourite player, but an entire name? That’s a bit unusual…..isn’t it?

Paul Scholes has described Louis Van Gaal as a “mad genius” and has claimed Manchester United will not win the league this season, as they haven’t strengthened their squad enough, compared to what their Premier League rivals have done.

The former United midfield maestro is confident the club have got the right man to steady the ship after a disastrous 12 months and towards a top four finish, but Scholes insists a title challenge is beyond the current squad’s capabilities, as they lack quality in midfield, despite the arrival of Ander Herrera.

In the late 1970s, throughout the “Darkness on The Edge of Town tour”, Bruce Springsteen used to add a verse to one of his signature songs, Backstreets, in which the song’s main character bemoaned being betrayed by the girl he loved.

“You lied,” sang Springsteen, initially in a melancholic, matter of fact voice, before following the music’s crescendo to utter those words in a mixture of ferocious anger and disgust.

Manchester United are targeting AS Roma centre-back Mehdi Benatia, as Louis Van Gaal looks to bolster his defensive options, after missing out on Thomas Vermaelen and Mats Hummels.

ESPN claims that sources within the club are adamant the United manager is determined to bring in two players between Benatia, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo before the end of the transfer window, as Van Gaal currently has only three centre-backs at his disposal and the injury to Luke Shaw complicates things even further.

Welbeck, who came through the ranks of United’s Academy, divides opinion amongst United fans and is reportedly interested in the switch if his chances are like likely to be limited this season as he plays second fiddle tomWayne Rooney and Robin van Persie.

I’m not normally one to moan. Okay, maybe just a little bit. But when news filtered through last night that Mr Wayne Rooney had been announced club captain, my stomach sank, and all the pre-season excitement vanished.

What have we done?

In Wayne Rooney, Manchester United possesses one of the great players in the Premier League, but they also possess one of the most disruptive the club has ever had on it’s books.

Louis Van Gaal has chosen Manchester United’s captain for this season and, perhaps slightly surprising, Wayne Rooney and not Robin Van Persie is the man the new United manager has chosen to skipper the side in his inaugural campaign at Old Trafford.

The relationship between Van Persie and Van Gaal had many suggesting that the former Arsenal striker would be given the armband this season, particularly given he had captained Holland at the World Cup but, instead, the honour has gone to Rooney, with Darren Fletcher promoted to the role of vice-captain.